Founding faculty member Harold Cohen created AARON, the first computer program designed to produce art.

The UC San Diego Library pays tribute to the university’s stellar Visual Arts Department on its 50th anniversary, with three rich and diverse exhibitions reflecting the amazing creativity and innovation achieved by faculty and students over the last five decades. The Library’s Special Collections & Archives and Collection Development & Management programs have collaborated with the Visual Arts Department and the UC San Diego Faculty Club in presenting the following exhibitions:

October 24, 2016 – January 4, 2016; Geisel Library, 2nd (main) floor

Program & Reception: November 4 ● 3-5 pm ● Geisel Library, Seuss Room

Original works of art, artists’ books, and unique archival pieces from Special Collections document the intersection of art and language in the works of faculty and graduates of the Visual Arts Department. Examining the myriad ways UC San Diego artists have embraced language as a part of their art practices, demonstrating how Visual Arts has become a leader in the development and advancement of contemporary art.Read more…

Lynda Claassen, the UC San Diego Library’s longtime director of Special Collections & Archives, recently received the Excellence in Stewardship Award from the UC San Diego Foundation, in recognition of her long history of building and sustaining excellent relationships with donors to the Library.

During her more than 30-year tenure as director of the Library’s Special Collections and Archives, Lynda has become well-known for her collaborations—often over many years—with donors of gifts of rare and archival materials.

“There is no question that Lynda’s many efforts have raised the caliber of our distinctive collections and the reputation of the Library” said University Librarian Brian Schottlaender. “But, more importantly, she has been committed to ensuring that the rare materials entrusted to us are properly cared for, in accordance with the desires of those donors who have given us their treasures for safekeeping and long-term preservation.” Read more…

The UC San Diego Library will host an exhibition of fine press books, limited edition books, fine bindings, and one-of-a-kind artists’ books to be held at Geisel Library from September 6 through October 16, 2016. Members of the public are invited to the opening reception for Look, A Book!, which is sponsored by the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers on Saturday, September 10, from 3 to 5 p.m. The exhibition—which includes the works of 24 members of the Guild of Book Workers—will present a broad range of book structures, letterpress printing, fine and design binding, and unique artists’ books in a wide variety of media, including photography, walnut ink, handmade sunflower paper, paste papers, and stone veneer. The topics of the artists’ books are equally diverse, and include such titles as News Delivery Systems: A Condensed History, Where Stucco meets Chaparral, On Rooks, Curried Book, The Lone Ranger, and The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain. The exhibition, which includes nearly 50 works, showcases traditional book arts as well as more innovative 21st century interpretations of books. A fully illustrated catalogue is available.

“I’m delighted that we are able to host this year’s California Chapter Guild of Book Workers exhibition in Geisel Library,” said Brian E. C. Schottlaender, The Audrey Geisel University Librarian at UC San Diego. “Collaborations like this—which showcase and celebrate the book arts—are especially meaningful to us. The UC San Diego Library’s Special Collections and Archives has a long history of supporting and presenting a wide range of materials crafted by book artists, and has an outstanding collection of artists’ books and limited edition fine press books. The Look, A Book! exhibition reflects our continuing interest in partnering with groups like the Guild to engage the campus and local communities and to support book artists and their distinctive works of art.” Read more…

Every four years, American voters go to the polls to cast their ballot (or, increasingly, mail in their ballot) to elect the nation’s commander-in-chief. With less than six months away from this year’s presidential election, the UC San Diego Library’s Special Collections & Archives has mounted an exhibit of presidential papers that takes the long view, back to the nation’s first president, George Washington.

Hail to the Chief!— which is on display in Geisel Library until August 31—includes a wide range of materials from the manuscript and book collections of the Library’s Special Collections & Archives. According to Lynda Claassen, director of Special Collections & Archives, although the presidency has never been an area of focus for the Library, a number of intriguing items have accumulated over the years. The Library’s holdings now include at least one item related to each of the nation’s 43 presidents, said Claassen, from a letter written in 1778 from Valley Forge by founding father George Washington, the first U.S. president, to a citation sent by President Barack Obama to UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla.

One item featured in the exhibit was actually owned by America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson. A copy of C. F. Volney’s Les ruines, ou Meditation sur les revolutions des empires (1791), a book Jefferson reputedly loved and agreed to translate it into English. Anonymously, as Jefferson was mindful of both controversial issues in the book and the fact that a presidential election year was coming up. Read more…

Most visitors to Geisel Library first learn about artist Joyce Cutler-Shaw’s work when viewing her intriguing calligraphic installation, Alphabet of Bones, in the Library’s Special Collections & Archives exhibition space. In creating this fascinating work, Cutler-Shaw was inspired by the hollow bones of birds—pigeons, specifically—resulting in a series of anatomically correct drawings depicting an “alphabet of bones,” consisting of 26 double characters. While many artists would leave it at that, Cutler-Shaw is not “many artists.” She went on to digitize the alphabet, and rendered it translatable into both English, and a symbolic code. Then, she copyrighted it. It is her own personal font or typeface.

A UC San Diego alumna who was a member of the university’s first MFA (Master of Fine Arts) class in 1972, Cutler-Shaw’s artistic works range from multi-media, drawings, and installations, to public projects, sculpture, and artists’ books. She has long been a supporter of the Library and the campus, and has collaborated with the Library on many exhibitions and special projects over the years. In addition, the Joyce Cutler-Shaw Papers are preserved in the Library’s Special Collections & Archives; the archive of her work comprises original writings and drawings, correspondence, project proposals, photographs, and slides, as well as audio and video recordings. Read more…

The University of California, San Diego campus is making preparations for its annual birthday party to celebrate one of the campus’s most beloved luminaries, Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. The fantastically creative children’s book author’s 112th birthday celebration coincides with national Read Across America Day and comes on the heels of the UC San Diego Library’s recent announcement to name its new café in honor of the author’s wife, Audrey Geisel.

The party, which is open to Dr. Seuss fans both on and off campus, will be held at noon on Wednesday, March 2, in front of Geisel Library, the campus’s flagship building named in 1995 for Theodor and Audrey Geisel. The event will be hosted by University Librarian Brian E. C. Schottlaender. Birthday festivities include a giant inflatable Cat in the Hat as well as free cake and Seussian musical entertainment by The Teeny Tiny Pit Orchestra, directed by the Library’s Scott Paulson.

In addition to the birthday party, a modest exhibit of materials from the Dr. Seuss Collection will be on view from February 23 through March 7, 2016 in Geisel Library.

The UC San Diego Library received Theodor Seuss Geisel’s collection of drawings, manuscripts, notebooks, and other memorabilia after his death in 1991. In 1995, Audrey Geisel made a substantial donation to support the university’s Library, which was subsequently named Geisel Library. Last year, Audrey Geisel made a $3 million donation to the Library to refurbish the building’s main public spaces. The Library’s Special Collections & Archives is the world’s main repository for the original works of Dr. Seuss. The Dr. Seuss Collection holds more than 15,000 items, including original drawings, sketches, manuscript drafts, books, notebooks, photographs and memorabilia, documenting the full range of Geisel’s creative achievements, from his high school activities in 1919 through his death in 1991.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the National Park Service, and the Library’s Special Collections & Archives is exhibiting items that illustrate some of California’s magnificent national parks and monuments. The exhibition, “Wondrous Manifestations of Nature: Celebrating California’s National Parks” is on view until April 2016, on the main floor of Geisel Library.

August 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau within the Department of the Interior. The Service would be responsible for protecting the 25 national parks and monuments already established and managed by the Department, as well as those yet to be established. The Service was to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Read more…

Last December, in honor of the one-year anniversary of J. Robert Beyster’s passing at the age of 90, the Beyster family donated Bob Beyster’s Papers to the UC San Diego Library’s Special Collections & Archives, where they will serve as an outstanding resource for students, scholars, and business owners interested in entrepreneurial innovation and success. Beyster founded the highly profitable government contractor, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), which was modeled on his successful blueprint for entrepreneurial, employee-empowered companies.

Beyster’s papers include SAIC business records, correspondence, committee meeting minutes and materials related to employee ownership. They also host records on a broad range of government-funded research and development projects including Strategic Air Command during the Cold War, safety of the international space station, critical hull design for a number of U.S. entries in the America’s Cup race, clean-up of Three Mile Island, commercialization of the Internet, and more. Beyster’s papers also comprise the more than 60 technical publications he authored along with the numerous awards and honors he received for his innovations and accomplishments.Read more…

“One Cake, Two Cake, Red Cake, Blue Cake!” On Monday, January 18th the Food Network’s popular Cake Wars show aired a special Dr. Seuss-themed episode to celebrate Seuss’s newest book, What Pet Should I Get? Everyone from the Cat in the Hat to Thing 1 and Thing 2 joined the sugar-packed competition as host Jonathan Bennett worked hard to inspire the four competing cake artists, who were tasked with recreating the world of Dr. Seuss in cake form.

Photo Credit: Erik Jepsen, UC San Diego Publications

In the first round, the bakers rushed against the clock to design a cake that featured their own version of a Seussian character as well as two surprise ingredients: green eggs and ham. After the elimination of one contestant, the three remaining cake artists went head-to-head in a challenge for the grand prize: $10,000 and a chance to have their winning creation on center stage at a celebration with UC San Diego students at Geisel Library. Guest judge Susan Brandt, President of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, was on-hand to ensure the winning cake would live up to the seussical standards of the late children’s book author.

Photo Credit: Erik Jepsen, UC San Diego Publications

Self-taught baker Melissa Zunich from Colorado and her cousin Sunny Hintze were the winning bakers, creating a towering buttermilk vanilla bean cake that “screams Dr. Seuss,” according to judge Waylynn Lucas. Their artful creation was studded with familiar characters, including the Lorax, Thing 1 and Thing 2, and a host of other Seussian props, such as a plate of green eggs and ham, and the famous fish bowl and hat from Cat in the Hat. The cake was topped off with the two children from What Pet Should I Get? The winners visited the UC San Diego campus in early December to celebrate in Seussian style, with 50 students who were filmed for the show while eating cake. Click here to view some behind-the-scenes photos that UC San Diego photographer Eric Jepsen took of the filming adjacent to the Dr. Seuss statue near the forum level of Geisel. If you missed out on the Cake Wars show, you can still taste the cake! Visit the Food Nework website for Zunich and Hintze’s winning recipe.

Papers of the late J. Robert “Bob” Beyster, founder of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and a business innovator who developed a successful blueprint for entrepreneurial, employee-empowered companies, are being donated to the UC San Diego Library by the Beyster family.

Beyster’s papers, which reflect his passion for entrepreneurship and employee-owner enabled entrepreneurial practices, include correspondence, SAIC business records, committee meeting minutes and materials related to employee ownership, as well as records on a broad range of government-funded research and development, including Strategic Air Command during the Cold War, safety of the international space station, critical hull design for a number of U.S. entries in the America’s Cup race, clean-up of Three Mile Island, commercialization of the Internet, and many other transformational programs. The collection will also contain his more than 60 technical publications and a complete record of the numerous awards and recognitions he received for his public service, global leadership in science and technology, and entrepreneurship.

After the materials are processed, the Beyster Papers will be housed in the UC San Diego Library’s Mandeville Special Collections, where they will be available for use by scholars, researchers and educators. The Beyster family has also provided funding to facilitate the processing of the archival materials to make them available for research and discovery online via the Web. The collection is expected to be made available to the public in 2017. Read more…